Mei, The Champion
by Xylar
Summary: Several short stories tied together to show Mei and her rule as champion of the Unova region. Several different POV. Every chapter told from a post story perspective. Read if you want to see how I think Mei would act as a champion. Most chapters set in the Pokemon World Tournament. Rated T for some mild language abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Mei, The Champion.

'Hey, is that who I think it is?' Curtis prodded his friend in the arm.

Jonathan looked and suddenly glared to Curtis' surprise. He nodded, 'Yep, that's her. New champion of Unova. I didn't know she'd be here. But I guess it makes sense. All the strong trainers come here, eventually.'

'Holy shit!' Curtis looked at Mei in disbelief, 'Are you fucking kidding me? The Champion is here? Now? We might as well pack up and go back home.'

'Nah,' Jonathan replied laconically, 'she's not in our league. I heard they put her in group 4 with the gym leaders. At least until more champions get here. I heard they were planning to pit them against each other to find out which one is the best. Not that grunts like us will ever know. We're in a different league. A _lesser _league.' That last remark came out bitter and made Curtis glance at his friend strangely.

'You know her?' he asked.

'Oh, yea, I know her. I even fought her back on Victory Road.'

'And?' Curtis asked impatiently.

'What do you mean, and? I lost. Hard. Felt like I didn't even stand a damn chance. Made me feel like my 8 badges weren't worth a goddamn thing. Made me question myself as a trainer. There was no way in hell I was going to challenge the Elite Four after that battle, let me tell you.'

Curtis shook his head confused. He wasn't used to seeing his friend this bitter and pessimistic. They had both started on their journey together and they had both grown into strong and capable trainers, which is why they were at the Pokemon World Tournament in the first place. Or at least, they both thought they were strong trainers. You didn't get to call yourself an Ace Trainer by just muddling about. But Jonathan didn't seem so convinced of his skill anymore. And now that he'd started to mention the reason why, Curtis simply had to know more.

'Oh, come on dude. It was just one battle. You really going to let one fight get you down that much. I mean, she looks like what? 16? 18 at most? We're experienced trainers, you and me. We can take her!'

'No, we can't, Curtis,' Jonathan snapped at his friend, 'goddammit, you weren't there. You didn't see her fight. I didn't _just _lose. I was crushed. Demolished. Fucking patronized, you get it? I never even got to land a single move against her!'

Curtis was shocked. Could it be? Was she really that different from them? How? He looked at Mei again. She seemed relaxed. Like a normal teenage girl. Until their eyes locked. Curtis looked into her eyes and got that feeling any trainer knew. That gut instinct that you were being challenged. That glint in the opponents eyes that they were ready to take you on. But she had so much more fire in her eyes. She didn't look at all like a teenage girl anymore. He could practically feel the desire to win pouring out. A fierce determination to never let anyone best her. She seemed so convinced of her own strength and the bond with her pokemon that she even managed to shake Curtis' faith in his own abilities. He involuntarily backed down and almost looked away. Something no selfrespecting trainer ever did. And then it passed. Mei gave him a slight almost imperceptible nod, smirked and turned her attention to a little girl tugging at her short for an autograph. Curtis felt completely out of breath. _'And Jonathan FOUGHT this girl?'_ he thought. No wonder he was so shaken and unsure of himself. Curtis almost felt like running to the bathroom just to make sure he wouldn't throw up in public and all she had done was look at him. With those steely, confident blue eyes that bore through his very soul. Eyes that had seemed to challenge him and put everything he was to the test. He shuddered and tried to think of something else, but found that he couldn't. Mei had dropped to one knee and was giving the little girl an autograph on her pokéball. She seemed so different from the person he had locked eyes with. Right now, she looked like a pleasant, likeable, friendly girl patiently fulfilling some of her fans' wishes. But when she had looked at him, she was a trainer first and foremost. One with vast skill, talents, confidence and a determination Curtis couldn't possibly hope to match. He gave her one last look. He didn't believe for a second that she was acting. Somehow, he knew that Mei was both. Pleasant, friendly, social girl with a positive, loving attitude to the world and strong, confident, able trainer for all challengers. Curtis tried to make sense of it all. Deep down in his core, he knew that if they would ever battle, he would lose, just like Jonathan had.

'Hey, Jon?'

'Mm?' Jonathan replied. He hadn't paid attention to Curtis. Instead, he had been looking at the board where they were just announcing the opponents for the first round of their group.

'Do you know who she's up against?'

'Yea, the gym leaders already started. Skyla's fighting Elesa just now. Mei's up after that. Looks like she's going to be taking on Burgh in the first round. See, their board is right over there.' Jonathan pointed at the board of group 4.

'Burgh.' Curtis mumbled. 'You think he stands a chance against her? I mean, he is a gym leader after all. He might… you know… win…' Curtis voice trailed off near the end as he realized the own futility of his words.

Jonathan laughed. 'If he wins, it'll be the most spectacular win this place has ever seen since its construction. Hah, no, he won't win. I heard she crushed him when she challenged his gym. Heard he painted the entire night to work out all his frustrations and disbelief.'

Curtis sighed. Suddenly, taking on the PWT didn't seem like such an exciting thought anymore. What hope was there for him or people like him with people like Mei around. And more champions like her from different regions on their way. Maybe he'd just settle for being the best Ace Trainer possible. He sighed again and looked at Mei one last time, but she was gone already. The second fight of group 4 had jus begun and the big screen showed Burgh bringing out his first pokemon. Curtis watched the screen intently. This was going to be the first time he saw the champion herself in action. This was going to be interesting…


	2. Chapter 2

Mei Part II

'Go, Vaporeon.'

'Oh, what a surprising move, folks. I never saw that one coming. Mei opts to go for Vaporeon. Burgh has the clear type advantage here. And with neither combatant able to switch out until their pokemon are unable to fight, Mei might be in tough spot here. Will he be able to capitalize on it? Will Mei regret her choice? We're about to find out. Let's see which Pokémon Burgh chooses.' The announcer bounded up and down excitedly in his chair like a child and was whipping up the crowds with his excited behaviour.

Burgh narrowed his eyes at Mei, trying to figure out why she picked Vaporeon for this fight, but she betrayed nothing. She simply stared back at him with defiant eyes, ready for his move, whatever pokémon he chose.

'Go, Leavanny,' he announced. He didn't want to hold back in this match. He couldn't afford to. Everyone knew his Leavanny was the strongest Pokémon on his team. If he wanted to have a shot at beating Mei, he'd need his best and he intended to quickly dispatch her first partner by using his strongest one.

The referee drummed up the rules routinely, though both contestants knew them well. It was to b fight. Neither side could switch their pokemon until one had fainted. Items of any kind were forbidden.

'Leavanny, X-Scissor!' Burgh ordered. Leavanny obeyed, crossed its claws and swung a bladed X shape at Vaporeon. Mei didn't order her partner to do anything. She trusted in its training. Vaporeon shot a forceful blast of water at the ground, launching itself into the air, mere moments before getting hit. Burgh smiled. 'Nice move,' he commented, 'but know that Vaporeon's up in the air, there's no way I can miss it. Leavanny, Magical Leaf!'

Leavanny summoned a bunch of sharp leaves and launched them at the airborne Vaporeon. In response Vaporeon began thwirling around rapidly, summoning vast gushes of water around itself.

'That won't help,' Burgh exclaimed. 'Those leaves are going to cut right through that.'

As the leaves penetrated the ball of water that Vaporeon had created around itself, Burgh smiled and anticipated a clean hit against his adversary. Mei gave an order for the first time, though. 'Now,' she simply said. On command, Vaporeon flashfroze the ball of water and the leaves trapped within it, several of which were mere inches from hitting it. The ball of ice came crashing back down and shattered on impact with the ground, showering Leavanny with many sharp icicles. It tried to ward them off with its arms, but the unexpected attack came too sudden. Many icicles hit home and severely bruised the frail body of Leavanny. Vaporeon, meanwhile, didn't wait around for his opponent to recover but struck with an attack of its own, launcing an Icebeam at Leavanny. Burgh saw it coming, however and ordered Leavanny to counter it with Energy Ball. Both attacks hit in the center of the ring, where they exploded with great force. Burgh smiled. 'Come now, Mei, you're good, but that was obvious. You're really going to have to be more creative if you hope to win this Tournament.'

Mei smiled back in response. 'Oh, but I have been creative. You just haven't noticed my intentions yet.'

Taken aback by this, Burgh stumbled back and tried to examine the ring to see what Mei was on about, but the dust still hadn't settled. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, apparently Vaporeon came bolting forward, cloaked in a jet of water. Burgh opened his eyes in surprise. The ice beam had two purposes. One was obvious, but the second was so insidious, he never would have thought of it himself. She had used it to freeze the ground underneath its path and used that ice as a slingshot of shorts to propel Vaporeon forward to have it achieve speeds it wasn't normally capable of. Vaporeon crashed headfirst into Leavanny's midsection. Leavanny staggered back, but kept standing. 'Finish it,' Mei ordered calmly and Vaporeon nodded and smashed its tail with great force at the ground before Leavanny, creating a rock that jutted out of the ground that launched the poor grass pokemon out of the ring and rendered it KO.

'Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen, in an amazing display of control, strength and versatility, Vaporeon proved to be the stronger of the two and knocks Leavanny out without so much as even a scratch. Ofcourse, now the question on everybody lips is: What will Burgh do about it? Will any of his other 2 pokémon prove a match?'

Burgh withdrew his Leavanny and complimented Mei on a job well done. 'I should have known better then to think something as simple as type advantage would have been enough to overcome you. Very creative use of moves on your part. But I guarantee, it won't happen again. Scyther, come on out.' He tossed his pokéball in the air and Scyther sprung out, brandishing its blade like arms menacingly.

'Now, then,' Burgh said 'What do you say we kick this game into a higher speed? Think you can keep up? Scyther, extremespeed!'

Scyther dashed forward so blindingly quick it seemed to leave a copy of itself behind. It smashed right into Vaporeon and launched the waterpokémon into the air. 'Right where I want it,' Burgh said, 'Quick attack!' Scyther lept up in the air after Vaporeon and quickly caught up to it, but was unable to get close. In response to being flipped into the air, Vaporeon had started spinning around violently and its massive tail and sharp claws spinning around quickly prevented Scyther from getting close. Both pokémon landed back on the ground.

'Hrm,' Burgh huffed, 'You trained it well. I really thought I had it.'

Mei merely smiled and glanced at her Vaporeon, which looked back. Both nodded in understanding. Trainer and pokémon were so in tune with each other that both knew the other's limits and Mei knew she didn't need to give orders until it was absolutely necessary. She trusted Vaporeon's judgment in battle and Vaporeon trusted her to guide it to victory. Vaporeon stood on all fours and summoned a massive wave of water from the edge of the ring. Burgh ordered Scyther to brace itself and it crossed its arms defensively in anticipation of the crashing wave. But Mei and Vaporeon surprised them again by not attacking. Rather then use the wave as a means of attack, Vaporeon manipulated the water to create a massive whirlpool that encompassed the entire ring. Vaporeon itself was surfing along its outer rims, using its tail to steer and propel itself forward. Scyther still stood in the middle of the ring, looking back to see what Burgh wanted it to do. But it couldn't see Burgh anymore, nor could it hear him as his vision was blocked by a giant wall of water and any sound was drowned out and replaced by that of rushing water. It tried to slash its way through the water but found that any hole it tried to make was quickly replaced by more water. Scyther looked up at the surfing Vaporeon and it entered the whirlpool, trying to catch up to it. It swam the water surprisingly well, given its predicament and it used its claws to steer itself along the path it desired. Vaporeon looked behind it and saw Scyther approach and suddenly, out of nowhere stopped manipulating the waterflow. The waters quickly receded and stopped whirling and Scyther, who was unprepared for yet another surprise like this, was flung out of the ring violently by his own forward momentum and crashed into a well, knocking itself out. Vaporeon landed on all fours deftly and curled up its tail around itself, as if waiting for the next challenge.

Burgh stood at the side of the arena, looking at his unconscious Scyther, mouth agape. Mei explained, 'Independence is important in a fight. Any fight. It doesn't matter how strong the bond between you and your pokémon is if it can't fight by itself. If you're not around to give commands, it still has to be able to fight just as if you _were _there. The bond between you and your pokemon is only as strong as its ability to fight under _any _circumstance.'

The announcer, who resided in a box above the arena and had thus been able to follow the entirety of the fight between Vaporeon and Scyther excitedly reported the story to a baffled audience, move for move. For a moment, there was a stunned silence all across. Then the audience burst out in a cheer for Mei.

Burgh shook his head disappointedly. This was going just like the gym fight all over again. Why was it so hard to beat this girl? She always seemed to have every angle covered. Every aspect studied. It didn't matter what you tried, she was ready for it. How do you fight someone like that?

But he was a Gym Leader and not about to give up like that. He would fight with all his strength until he could fight no more. His pokémon deserved that much. And… he still had an ace up his sleeve. He smiled to himself and released his final pokémon. 'Go, Venomoth!'

A large Venomoth flew from out of its pokéball and scanned the area, quickly deducing Vaporeon as the threat. Vaporeon locked eyes with the strange Pokémon. Neither Mei nor Vaporeon had ever encountered a Venomoth before. It was a native pokémon of the Kanto region and highly poisonous, she knew, but precious little beyond that. Which, she reasoned, was what Burgh was counting on. To pit her against an unknown adversary and hope to catch her offguard that way. She smiled at Burgh mysteriously. 'Well, then, Burgh, let's see you fight with it. We're ready, right, Vaporeon?'

Vaporeon nodded in agreement. 'Venomoth, stun spore!' Burgh decided he would first incapacitate Vaporeon before fighting it head on. It had proven a much to versatile opponent to risk the straightforward approach. Venomoth flew across the whole ring, releasing its paralying agents. Strangely, Vaporeon didn't move at all. 'What?' Burgh asked, puzzled. 'But… the spores!' And then he saw it. Very vaguely, very subtle. The spores were being blocked by some sort of watery, rainbow coloured shield before they even touched Vaporeon.

'Aqua ring,' Mei said. 'But nice try, though. Clever too. I suppose I don't need to tell you that subterfuge is important in fights too. I mean, not anymore anyway,' gesturing at Venomoth.

'Fine then,' Burgh exclaimed, 'no subtle approach. Let's just get right into it! Venomoth, Psywave!' Venomoth flapped its wing to produce a strange sounding vibration that echoed all over the arena, entrancing Vaporeon who stumbled across the field confused. Mei realized what was going on and for the first time since the fight had started, the Champion found that she would need to take matter into her own hands. 'Vaporeon, go underground. Put layers between you and that sound!' Vaporeon understood its masters commands and quickly dug underground. Venomoth ceased its flapping and Burgh ordered it to follow Vaporeon underground and start again. Venomoth flew into the hole Vaporeon had created but was quickly and forcibly removed by a blast of water. It tried to fly back in, but was jetted back out again. Suddenly, Vaporeon burst out of the ground again at the other side. Venomoth tried to resume its Psywave but found that its wet wing couldn't produce the correct pitch to perform the attack anymore. Vaporeon's eyes flashed a bright light blue and all the water it created flashfroze. Venomoth, whose wings were still soaked, crashed to the ground, unable to fly with frozen wings. Burgh gasped in terror when he saw this happening and tried desperately to come up with a move that would save his Venomoth, but couldn't think of any. Vaporeon surged forward and slammed the poor psychic bug out of the ring with a well aimed and hardhitting aqua tail.

'KO, Venomoth can't fight anymore. And the winner of this first round is…. Mei!'

Burgh sighed. Exactly like his gym fight. Despite all his years as a trainer and gym leader, she had swatted him aside like a fly. Ironic.

Curtis was stunned too. He had never seen anyone fight like that. The use of environment, the bond between master and pokémon, the level of independence on both ends. How could you compete with someone like that. He glanced at Jonathan and secretly, he was glad that it was his friend that had fought the Champion and not him.


End file.
